Maresca warns no Manchester City player is undroppable despite Donnarumma staying in goal

Enzo Maresca has made clear that Gianluigi Donnarumma will start Manchester City’s Premier League meeting with Brighton on Saturday, but the Italian manager was careful to draw a distinction between backing his goalkeeper now and offering him permanent security in the side.

Donnarumma’s deputy saved two penalties in midweek to eliminate Brighton from the Carabao Cup, yet Maresca immediately confirmed the weekend line-up would be “Gigio plus ten” — a phrase he was equally quick to qualify. “I think it is one thing to say that at his moment it is Gigio plus ten, and another thing to say he is undroppable,” Maresca told reporters. “They are two different things. There is no player who is undroppable.”

The first-choice goalkeeper has attracted scrutiny in recent weeks after a series of errors contributed to goals conceded, including one that played a role in City’s first Premier League defeat of the season at Aston Villa. Maresca, however, pointed to Donnarumma’s late save in the Manchester derby as evidence that the 25-year-old still carries credit with the coaching staff.

“Any player makes mistakes — what is important is to move on, understand the reason why, to learn from that mistake and move on,” Maresca said. “In this moment we are talking about Gigio but remember the last minutes, the save at Manchester United away. All players make mistakes at some point of the season, sometimes it costs points and sometimes not because we are lucky, but I think it’s a normal process from Gigio.”

The two clubs meet for the second time in seven days, with City having edged through on penalties in the cup tie after both sides made a combined 16 changes for that fixture. The expectation is that each manager will restore their strongest available XI for the league encounter, raising the stakes considerably compared to Wednesday’s heavily rotated affair.

Maresca’s comments reflect a broader philosophy at City this season: form and context determine selection, and no individual — however established — is exempt from that scrutiny.